Pageant container August 2013 - master-packer Craig plus front-line men Ben and Rhys.

We finally loaded our latest container on 23rd August - I say 'finally' as the actual loading is the final act of an almost 12-month long drama.

Several of us have been packing parcels of donated clothes, shoes, bedding, towels etc since September 2012, most of which have been stored in the loft at Old School for the following months until loading day. These parcels are the 'squishies', beloved of all container loaders, as they fill in the gaps between the items of furniture that make up the bulk of the load. This time we had around 900 in total... the final total increased in the latter stages by donations and hard work from members of St John's Church in Broadbridge Heath. Everything was labelled with contents and for whom it was destined.

Southwater Junior Academy and Earlsfield Primary School provided much of the school furniture and we also received a large donation of good quality office furniture, which will be ideal for school offices and senior classrooms. (Loading team that day was Ian, Chris, Anthony, Lauren, Julia, Lauren, Dan, Andy, Rhys, Lawrance (who provided and drove the lorry), Ben - and Pippa, who took the photo)

donated office furniture office furniture & team loading & labelling squishes at Chris's more squishies bagged up at Old School

donated office furniture school furniture "squishies" at Old School Chris's second car full of squishies top of page >>

And so - we came to loading day, which dawned bright and sunny, just what we needed. Some of the loading team arrived at Old School to collect squishies to transport them to the barn in which the furniture was stored, where the container was due to arrive at 10am. We then had 3 hours to load - if we took longer we incurred a fairly heavy financial penalty - so speed, muscle and a good 'jigsaw mind' were all needed.

10.00am: The container arrived spot-on time and was backed up outside the barn.

Ian has just had a pacemaker fitted, so is not allowed to drive, lift or even raise his left arm above shoulder height - he was therefore limited to the organisational area and was NOT at the front line where he usually is on these occasions. Mercifully, we had Craig, our master-packer from previous years plus Ben, a wonderful recent addition to the team, ably assisted by Rhys - these three were the main front-line team and they performed miracles. The rest of us fetched, lifted and carried to order and gradually the container filled and the barn started to look emptier - would we get it all in??!!

container being backed in starting to load first layer done procession of doors

making the pallet steps Ian, Ann and Pippa labelling late parcels front team - Ben, Rhys and master packer Craig loading the doors top of page >>

11.30am - half-way through, a pause for drinks and biscuits and a re-assessment by Craig of what we had left - goodness, he didn't know THOSE were there...

Back to the task - still loads of squishies left, as well as furniture - and finally, YES, it all went in, with enough space to include a few of the pallets that we had used for making steps up to the container itself. FANTASTIC!!

nearly done   loading the final pallets closing the container

last few things    Chris - he did it all!!! at the pub afterwards top of page >>

Once we had closed the door on the container, done the necessary paperwork and the container had been driven away, we all drove off too - most of us to the Bax Castle, where we were somewhat revived by some excellent beverages while sitting in their garden. All in all, a very good day - and we actually finished 20 minutes BEFORE time!!

Thank you so much to our great team. In the photo above; Jayson, Ben, Dan, Craig, Tom, John, Brian, Tina, Demelza, Ann, Pippa, Ian G, Rhys, Ian H, Emma, Lauren, Andrew, Kathy, Joe and Maxine. Not in the photo, Chris (he took it), Frances and Peter (who both left before it was taken).